The first attempts to create a party formation to the right of N.D. they had a clear pro-Chundist and anti-Caraman stigma. Initially with the National Democratic Union led by Petros Garoufalias who was the bone of contention between Palatios and G. Papandreou in Juliana in 1965. After his failure (in the 1974 elections he won a little over 1%), the scheme was replaced in the next elections in 1977 by the National Party, led by the “apostate prime minister” Stefanos Stephanopoulos. Although he himself was not elected as a Member of Parliament, the scheme garnered almost 7% by electing 5 MPs, three of whom, however, ended up voting for Karamanlis in the election for his nomination for President of the Republic in 1980 at a time when it is provisional the party formation was also in a state of disintegration. However, 7%, although they were achieved in “relaxed” conditions, taking into account the preservation of N.D. in power, this was undoubtedly a high percentage, motivating similar attempts in the future.

The first of these was in 1981 by Spyros Marchesini, who revived the Progressive Party (being Prime Minister in October 1973, shortly before he was ousted in a coup by Ioannidis) but remained below 2%, but gained one seat in the first European elections. which were then held in Greece simultaneously with parliamentary elections. A place in the European elections of 1984 also won a new form of EPEN, which appeared, according to all sources, at the suggestion of imprisoned George Papadopoulos, but the 2.3% she scored then should have been the highest she achieved after participating in six consecutive parliamentary elections (except November 1989), in which it has always remained low, well below 1%.

This great permanent failure in the representation of the far right has certainly set off various developments. There are many party formations that have appeared from time to time along this path, but they all failed with a minimum number of votes, as did the first appearances of the Golden Dawn (always led by Nikos Michaloliakos) in the 1994 European elections and the 1994 parliamentary elections. 1996. This new form, however, began to display a new stigma with an emphasis on (Nazi) ideology and violent methods. That is why since 1998 he has been officially convicted and forced to suspend his activities. In the European elections of 1999, he participates in the “First Line” scheme founded by K. Pleuris, but the electoral failure with minimal percentage continues in 2000, when the most successful formation of the “space” is assembled – the National Alliance of G. Michalopoulos. only 0.2%.

But all this takes on a new form when, after the 2000 elections, G. Karacaferis is removed from the ND. and founds LAOS. The new structure gives shelter to various representatives of the extreme right space, as well as other “more democratic” officials, and the leader’s political flexibility in any case avoids the stigma of the far right. Despite an astonishing 13.6% success for Karatsaferi’s candidacy for the super-prefecture of Athens-Piraeus in the 2002 regional elections, in 2004 he failed to enter parliament, but he elected an MEP. Passage to parliament will be later (2007, 2009), along with the “desired remainder” of 1977, especially since he gains 7% in the 2009 European elections.

But it was a swan song. After the bankruptcy of the country, LAOS not only voted for the first memorandum, but also participated in the government of Papademos. Since then, it has never exceeded 3%, while Golden Dawn becomes a true expression of “anger” with four consecutive percentages around 7% in the 2012 and 2015 double parliamentary elections and a record 9.4% in the European elections . 2014. Of course, the three MEPs she elected then, as well as two others in 2019 (in her own swan song as she was expelled from parliament), then resigned and left. There is no one left in the particular scheme, and it has yet to be finally condemned as a criminal organization.

Abandonment and electoral failure with occasional seasonal outbursts is ultimately the main feature of the far-right space that is trying to emerge in Greece outside the borders controlled by the stable group of Greek centre-right. The upcoming elections will be another opportunity to test all this in practice once again.

Mr. Panos Stathopoulos is the Scientific Director of the Konstantinos Karamanlis Democracy Foundation.